The Alchemist and Wizard
by TheCandyChild
Summary: Truth didn't give extra chances often unless the person was worthy enough. Edward Elric proved that he was worthy enough to get another chance. Instead of giving up his Gate, he agrees to be sent to another world and attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to protect Harry Potter. How long can he keep his cover? Rated T for language. Takes place in the 5th HP book
1. Chapter 1

**Edward**  
 _Correct! You have defeated me!_ Truth cackled. Edward smirked, but Truth wasn't finished talking just yet.

 _Nobody has beat me for centuries!_ He giggled. Edward paused. He wasn't sure if he should be proud or afraid. He had a feeling in his gut, but it wasn't a good one. "Brother..." He heard a familiar voice say softly. He looked past Truth to find his little brother Alphonse sitting on the floor in front of his Gate, naked and malnourished as ever. He was alarmingly thin, so thin that you could count his ribs. His golden hair was long and shagged, and covered his right eye, leaving his golden colored left eye the only one visible. Edward's eyes widened as he stared at his brother.

"A-Alphonse!" Edward cried out, reaching towards him. Alphonse just smiled weakly at him, and Truth chuckled. Edward turned to him, a fiery look in his eye, as usual.

"So I can give up my Gate to bring Alphonse back, right?" He asked.

 _Yes, you can,_ Truth replied. Edward grinned and was about to clap his hands together, but Truth interrupted him. _However,_ He said. Ed frowned. Was there something wrong with his plan? He was sure he calculated everything correctly.

 _Since you have proved your worthiness and since you entertain me quite a bit, I have another proposal for you, Mr. Al-che-mist,_ Truth said, a grin spreading on his face. Ed just eyed him wearily and suspiciously. "Oh, yeah? What is it?" He asked, cautiously.

 _I will return the Colonel's eyesight, your teacher's organs, and your brother's body, that is, if,_ Truth said, _you are up to it._ That caught the young alchemist's attention. He looked up at Truth, unsure whether or not he should agree to whatever this was.

"What's the catch?" He asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously at the white, empty figure. Truth chuckled.

 _You will lose your right arm once again, but don't freak out, it'll be replaced by your Automail,_ It said. Ed smirked. "That's it? That's all there is too it?" He questioned.

 _You didn't let me finish,_ Truth snapped. _Don't interrupt._ Ed kept quiet, impatience and curiosity growing within him. What was Truth going to have him do? What was it going to take from him? Surely something as good as a deal like this required something of equally great value. That was, after all, the law of Equivalent Exchange.

 _As I was saying,_ It said, _You'll be sent to another world to watch over Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived._ It said simply. Ed gawked. _First off_ , Edward thought, _what kind of retarded name was_ The Boy Who Lived _? My name,_ The Hero of the People _sounds way better_. He frowned, Truth's words repeating itself in his head. Another world? He paused for a moment, thinking of his teacher, that damn bastard Colonel, and, of course, Alphonse. They'd be able to get what they'd lost if he just did this one simple thing. However, the young boy feared that he might never see them again if he did agree on this.

"A-Another world? How the fuck is that possible?" He asked, finally, after a few moments of thinking.

 _There are more than one Gates, Mr. Al-che-mist,_ Truth replied. _Each Gate connects to one another, so I can easily send you wherever I want as long as you agree._ It said, a smug tone in its voice. Edward contemplated his choices. If he destroyed his Gate, then he wouldn't lose his arm at he's wanted back for years _and_ he'd return with Al. But then he could never again use alchemy, the second most important thing in his life, the thing that gave him the power to be a State Alchemist and save lives.

However, if he went to this strange world, then he'd be able to get everyone, excluding him, who saw the Gate back what they lost. But then he'd lose his right arm once again, and might not see any of his loved ones ever. Their faces flashed through his mind- Alphonse, that bastard Colonel, Teacher, Winry, Granny Pinako, and, against his will, Hohenheim, his good for nothing father. He scowled.

He was really in a dilemma. Truth yawned. _Tick tock, Mr. Alchemist,_ It said. _I don't have all day. Pick._ Ed's hands curled into fists, and he made his decision. "I'll..." He said. He gazed at Al, who was staring at him, wide-eyed. Ed clenched his jaw. He looked up at Truth. "I'll protect this damn Potter kid. But, I have a few questions," Edward said.

Al smiled faintly, knowing that his brother would choose that option. Though his big brother may not seem like it, he was actually pretty selfless and loyal. However, Al couldn't help but be sad. He promised to Winry that they would _both_ return safely. And, obviously, Al would be the only one returning.

 _Fire away, Mr. Alchemist,_ Truth said. Ed was quiet for a moment, then finally said, "Is there a way back home?" Truth just nodded.

 _There is. The way back to your world lies in Hogwarts._ It answered. Ed frowned.

"Why the hell would someone name a school _Hogwarts?_ What kind of name is that? You also mentioned that it was a school for witchcraft and wizardry. The fuck does that mean?" He growled.

 _It means that it's a school of magic._ Truth replied impatiently. Edward scoffed.

 _"Magic?_ Magic doesn't exist. It completely ignores-"

 _-The law of Equivalent Exchange._ Truth finished. _There is such a thing of magic in that world. It's a world where Equivalent Exchange is completely unheard of. As soon as you arrive, you should be getting your Hogwarts letter, because believe it or not, everyone in Amestris has magical blood running through their veins._ Edward growled. _Everyone_ in Amestris had magic in their blood? No god damn way. He decided not to question it, though, since he noticed that Truth was beginning to become impatient and irritated.

 _Is that all, Mr. Alchemist?_ Truth asked. Edward frowned, but nodded, stealing a glance at his brother as the gate behind both Ed and Al opened. Small, black hands shot out the Gate and grabbed Ed, pulling him back. The same happened to Al. "Alphonse!" Edward yelled.

"Brother!" He yelled back. He smiled weakly. "Don't get in too much trouble or break your Automail. Winry will kill you once you come back." He stated. Ed gave a weak chuckle. He was almost inside the Gate.

"I'll try not too," He yelled. "Tell the gearhead not to worry. I'll come back. I swear it!" The young alchemist screamed as he was pulled into the Gate. As soon as he was nowhere to be seen, the doors closed, an amused Truth the only thing left in the white landscape.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Disclaimer: I do not own FullMetal Alchemist or its characters or Harry Potter. Sadly. Enjoy thee chappie! :D_**  
Sirius gave a small sigh of content and leaned back into his chair, stuffed. Remus was doing the same while Mrs. Weasley washed the dishes in the kitchen. The house, at last, was quiet. The six teenagers that had finished their dinner early were currently upstairs, doing God knows what. Every once in a while, Sirius would hear a yell followed by running footsteps upstairs. He figured that the twins were causing trouble again.

There was a soft blue glow next to him, and he jumped. Remus and Sirius drew the wands immediately as the light intensified, making some sort of circle in the ground, blue electricity crackling around it. "What the hell is this?" Sirius asked as the light grew brighter. It eventually grew so bright that Sirius had to look away. As soon as the light dimmed and he felt it was okay to look at the thing without getting blinded, he glanced over at the source and let out a sharp gasp.

There was a person laying there, unmoving. Sirius couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl, since the person's back was facing him and the person's golden hair was up in a braid that went up to the shoulders. The figure wore a red cloak with some kind of symbol -it seemed vaguely familiar, though- on the back. The person wore what seemed like black leather pants and black combat boots with red soles. There was a wink of something metallic, silver, perhaps, in the person's pocket. The person wore white gloves, which were a bit dirty.

Sirius frowned and looked at Remus, who still had his wand drawn. "What...was that?" He asked. Remus shook his head.

"I don't have the slightest clue," He admitted, "But what I really want to know is how this kid even got in. I mean, the security should be pretty tight. I think he may be conscious. Look, he's stirring." He said, nodding towards the person, who began to get up. The person turned around, and Sirius shifted uncomfortably.

It was a boy, perhaps 13 or 14, with handsome, yet serious, facial features, his golden blonde bangs framing his face. He had a long gash on his cheek, a cut under his eye, which must have been pretty deep since it was bleeding quite a bit, and several scrapes. Blood trickled from his mouth, and half of his faced was caked with dry blood. But the fact that a kid so young was so beat up wasn't causing him the extreme discomfort he currently felt. No, it was his eyes. They were the color of molten gold, and had quite a bit of intensity and fierceness in them. They were eyes that a child should never had. They were the eyes of someone who suffered a great amount of pain and witnessed many unpleasant things.

That's when Molly decided to walk in, her wand drawn. "What happened? What was all the ruckus abou- _OH MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS!"_ She cried upon seeing the boy. She stuffed her wand in her pocket and rushed over to him.

"Be careful, Molly, he could be dangerous," Sirius warned, narrowing his eyes at the boy. "We don't know what he's capable of. It'd be wise to keep your wand out."

"He's a _child!"_ Cried Molly. "An injured one, too!" The boy tensed up and narrowed his eyes as she neared. But when she began fussing over his injuries, he apparently decided she wasn't a threat and relaxed. Just a bit, though. He eyed their wands wearily before speaking.

"Where the hell am I? Who are you people? Why are you pointing damn _sticks_ at me?" Edward asked. He wasn't feeling too good. The cuts on his face stung, his head throbbed, his sore body ached all over, and he felt like he might vomit everywhere. He stumbled a bit, feeling quite dizzy, but regained his balance. "Jeez...travelling through the Gate never ends well, does it?" He muttered.

The strange people seemed to not understand him. The man with the long brown hair knit his eyebrows in confusion and spoke to the other guy, who shrugged and glanced at Ed. The guy walked out of the room and up the stairs, leaving only the woman who was currently fussing over Ed's cuts and the guy with the shaggy hair.

Edward felt his right arm, and confirmed that it was once again automail as soon as he felt the hard, firm surface from under his clothes. He looked down, frowning. He had his cloak, jacket, and gloves on, which was very strange since when he was at the Gate, he was wearing a torn up black tank-top. He finally decided that Truth must have been generous enough to help conceal Ed's automail. He wouldn't want the people here freaking out, after all. Everything was quiet until Ed spoke up again. "Edward. Call me Ed." He said, pointing at himself. The redheaded woman nodded slowly.

"Molly," She said, slowly, pointing at herself as well.

"Er...Sirius." The guy with the long hair said. Edward nodded, and the man from earlier returned. The woman, Molly, pointed to him.

"Remus." She said. Ed nodded.

"His name is Edward, but I think he wants us to call him Ed," Sirius said. "Have you contacted Dumbledore?" Remus nodded.

"Yes," Remus said, nodding. "What do we do about him?" He asked. Molly pursued her lips.

"We should-" There was a _crack_ and a man suddenly appeared next to Remus. Dumbledore. He held a envelope in his hand. Edward jumped back in surprise. What the hell was _that_? Was that the magic that Truth talked about? Ed suddenly felt very tired, and his knees shook under him. He felt like he was gonna pass out.

 _No,_ He told himself, _Don't pass out! Don't look weak in front of these people, dammit!_ Remus and the old dude talked for a bit. Remus told the man something, then nodding in understand, and the old geezer raised his stick and pointed it at him. The old dude said something and a small ball of light shot out from the tip and hit him in the head, and he collapsed.

The last thing he saw was Molly leaning over him, a worried expression on her face as she shook him, yelling something, before it all faded to black.

 **I know, I know. Cliché, cliché, cliché. I'm sorry ;-; Er, if you enjoyed the chapter or found any faults, please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**_Disclaimer: I still do not own FMA or HP...sadly._** _ **  
**_ ** _And, yes, I know that at this point, Ed's 16, but I'm making him 15. I feel like a lot of people are gonna get pissed at me for this...so, in advance, sorry if you dislike it._** __

 _"Mother! Mother!" The little boy yelled as he raced towards a pretty woman with brown hair and warm, gentle green eyes. A small horse-like figure was cradled in the boy's arms, and his mother paused for a moment, a red tomato in hand, and looked over at the boy, the faintest traces of a smile on her face._ __

 _"What's the matter, Ed?" She asked, her voice loving and smooth. She knelt down as Ed approached her, and he smiled up at her, and held the figure up. He giggled._ __

 _"Here's a present for you!" She smiled and gently took the figure from his hand._ __

 _"Oh, for me? What is it?" She asked. Ed looked up at her, his eyes full of adoration and love._ __

 _"I transmuted it!" He said, proudly. A look of shock overtook the woman's face._ __

 _"You did this?" She said. She paused, then smiled again. "That's daddy's little boy, all right!" She stood up, studying the little horse, then back at him, smiling radiantly as she patted his head._ __

 _"Thank you. You really are wonderful, Ed." He giggled, enjoying the affection he was getting, and she took her hand off of his head. "To be able to make such a perfect object..." Ed grinned and looked up at her, but that soon faltered upon seeing her disappointed, angry, hurt, malicious expression. Ed never saw the expression his mother currently wore, and it certainly did not suit her._ __

 _"But..." Ed stared up, horrified, as blood began to run down his mother's face. Her eyes bled, the light in her eyes extinguishing, leaving only a dead, soulless look in them as the blood dripped onto her clothes. Ed stared, horrified and finding himself unable to move as he watched the thing his mother became. Her voice shook with hurt, pain and anger, and she dropped the bag of tomatoes and the horse figure, which broke as soon as it hit the floor, and she said, her voice barely above a whisper,_ __

 _"You couldn't make me right..."_

Edward sat up, quickly, panting, his heart hammering in his chest. Sweat beaded his forehead, and a drop rolled down the side of his face and clung to his chin, then finally dropped onto the bed sheet in front of him. _Wait...bed sheet? What the hell..._ He thought, frowning. He shivered, feeling the hairs on his neck stand up. Something definitely wasn't right.

He looked around the small room as he recalled the night from before. Jeez...he passed out as soon as that thing hit him. He wondered what the hell that old geezer did to him. He put his hand up to his forehead; it had been bandaged up. He felt his cheek and found a band-aid or something there as well.

He winced. Every time he breathed in, he was met with extreme pain. He was sore all over, but his ports ached the most. _It must be raining_ , he thought. Suddenly, his eyes widened at the reminder that he didn't have a flesh and blood left leg or right arm. Did they see his automail? He looked down at his clothes, which haven't changed. He let out a small sigh of relief as the door opened.

"Is he awake?" A girl with red hair asked. She looked like she was around Edward's age. In fact, all of them looked like they were somewhere near 15.

"Er, yeah I think so," A scrawny boy with glasses, messy black hair, and green eyes said, eyeing Edward. "He doesn't look too trusting though. I wonder if the translation spell worked?" There was a scoff.

"Harry, I'm pretty sure that it worked. I mean, it's bloody _Dumbledore_ that cast the spell!" A boy with red hair and freckles said.

"That doesn't mean that he doesn't make mistakes, Ronald!" A girl with curly, brown hair and brown eyes snapped.

"Wow! He looks pretty old-"

"-But boy is he _short!"_ At this, Edward's head snapped up. It took all of his strength not to scream at them and throw them out the window. He figured that these people could be powerful, and it'd be best to make a good impression and not anger them. After all, they did help him. He squinted at them, giving them a withering glare.

"Don't call me short," He growled. The twins just grinned at each other, delighted that they had another person to pester and prank.

"Well, now we know that it works!" One of them chirped.

"Yeah! And this guy looks easy to irritate, too!" The brunette scowled and hit them both in the arm.

"Oh, stop it, you two!" She snapped. "Cut him some slack! He was pretty beat up when we found him! I bet he's pretty confused, too." Edward blinked as he watched the three bicker. He exhaled softly, still shaken up quite a bit from the nightmare he had, and rubbed his shoulder, hoping to ease the pain at least a little.

Ed cleared his throat loudly, and they stopped to look at him. "Anyone mind explaining where I am?" He asked. The brunette blinked, then smiled.

"Oh, how rude of us! We forgot to introduce ourselves!" She gasped. "My name's Hermione Granger."

"I'm Fred Weasley, and he's-" Fred started.

"George Weasley, his twin brother!" George finished. Hermione looked at the other red-headed boy, who was engrossed in a conversation with the black haired kid. Hermione elbowed the redhead in the ribs.

"Introduce yourself, Ronald!" She hissed. He glared at her.

"Don't call me 'Ronald'!" He hissed back. He turned to Edward. "My name's Ronald Weasley. I'd prefer it if you called me Ron, though. Nice to meet ya, mate."

Harry was a bit unwilling to introduce himself. He shuffled his feet, and said, "My name's Harry Potter." He waited for the gasp of shock, the request to see his scar, and the excited comments. But it never came, which surprised Harry slightly. He looked at the boy, who showed no enthusiasm or recognition at all. Instead, his gaze drifted towards Ginny.

"I'm Ginny Weasley." She said, shortly. The boy squared his shoulders, as if something were bothering him, and jerked his thumb towards himself.

"Edward Elric," He said. "Call me Ed." For a moment, there was silence, until Ginny spoke.

"Um...you're in London, England, at 12 Grimmauld place." She said, awkwardly. Ed frowned. What strange names. But, then again, this _was_ a different world.

"So, where ya from, mate?" asked Ron. "You have a weird accent and look weird." Edward raised his eyebrows, contemplating his answer. Obviously, he couldn't tell them he was from another world, and he didn't know any of the places here, so he obviously couldn't lie.

"Um...you probably never heard of it." He said, hesitantly. George- or Fred, Edward couldn't tell the difference- pouted.

"But we might have!" He said. "Besides, what does it matter?"

"Yeah!" Fred agreed. Well, Edward _assumed_ it was Fred. "It's not like you're from another dimension, right?" He joked. The door swung open, saving Ed from being questioned any further, and the red-headed lady walked in. She exhaled softly.

"I see you're awake, Edward," She said. "How do you feel?"

"Like shit." He replied, earning a baffled look from Hermione, and a snicker from the twins.

"I see," She said. "Are you in any other pain?"

"Well, I think my ribs are bruised or broken." He said, nonchalantly. He felt his side, and tenderly pressed down. He winced. "Yep, they're broken." Hermione and Molly stared at him, horrified expressions on their faces, and Ron gaped.

"Whoa! How can you tell? And how the bloody hell are you acting like it's not a big deal?" He asked. Ed shrugged.

"Well, I have the tendency to get hurt a lot." said Edward. "Besides, I've been through much worse." Hermione's jaw dropped open.

"What- how- _what can be worse than a broken rib?!"_ She gasped. _Getting your arm and leg ripped off, maybe?_ __

"Well, I was impaled by a pole once and had to get it pulled out so I can stop the bleeding." He said, thoughtfully. Hermione, Molly, and Ginny turned pale. Molly looked like she was gonna faint. "W-Well, I got help for it, and it's not like I almost die- well, it didn't kill me."

With all the shocked, horrified looks he received, he figured he should stop talking. That's when he was bombarded with questions.

"Bloody hell, mate! Who was mad enough to stick a pole right through ya?!"

"How on Earth could that have happened!? Wouldn't you have bled even _more_ if you took the pole out?"

"Do you usually face-"

"-Dangerous situations like that?"

"Wow! You must have been real tough to endure that! How did you stop the blood?"

"You look like you're only 15! How can you have faced that at such a young age!?"

"What did-"

"ENOUGH!" Molly roared. "The poor boy needs some rest! Quit asking so many questions! Out!" She shooed the teenagers out of the room, and turned back to Ed.

"Mind if I feel your ribs? Just to make sure that it's broken?" Edward nodded, and she reached out and put her hand to his sides. Edward sucked in a deep breath and clenched his jaw. Molly pulled her hand away.

"It's broken, all right," She sighed. "I wonder why a boy your age had to go through...all of this pain. Were you in a fight?" Ed nodded.

"Yep." He said. "Nothing new, really. I've been in countless fights." Molly frowned at this, but said nothing. Instead, she pulled out her wand. Edward eyed it with distrust.

"Don't worry," She said, gingerly. "I'm only going to mend the bones, okay? Is that alright?" Edward still eyed the wand suspiciously, but since he didn't really have a choice, nodded.

She put the tip of her wand to his side and muttered something under her breath. A soft blow glow appeared from the tip, and Edward felt the pain gradually going away. In fact, he could actually _feel_ the bones mending. It was an odd sensation, but he didn't complain.

"Better?" She asked. Ed nodded gratefully.

"Better." He confirmed. "Thanks." Molly smiled warmly.

"Don't mention it." She said, softly. She paused for a moment, as if deep in thought, and then turned to him again.

"Can you walk?" She asked. Ed nodded.

"Er, yeah, probably." He said. Molly smiled softly.

"Well, then, follow me." She said. "Might as well introduce you to everyone over breakfast."

 **AGGGGHHH! So uneventful! I'm so sorry if you didn't like the chapter, guys, so sorry! I know a lot of stuff didn't happen, just bear with me pleeaasse! Also, to all of those who have favorited/followed, thank you so muucch! *hugglez*** ****

 **Please review! What did you like about the chapter? What did you dislike? Etc.**

 **Also, I'd like to thank my new beta reader, DragonWriter357 for being…well, an awesome beta reader! Thank yoouuuu 3**


	4. Chapter 4

Ed shifted in his chair uncomfortably. Everyone was staring at him with such intensity it unsettled him. "So, Edward," Sirius began, "how did you get here? That was a...ah...creative way of transportation..."

Ah, shit, Ed thought. I feel like alchemy is unheard of here. If I tell them, they'll probably think I'm crazy or something. Wait; since this is another world...will I still be able to do alchemy? Edward dreaded the thought of not being able to do it. Sure, when he was talking to Truth he had been ready to give it up for good, but even then, he felt like he was losing a big part of himself.

"I- um- don't remember." He blurted out. Hermione gave him a curious look, and he added, but not too quickly, "I can only remember bits and pieces, but not too much." Remus frowned. Edward coughed awkwardly and looked out the window. It was still pouring rain.

"Bits and pieces?" He repeated.

"Do you mind telling us?" All eyes were on him again. Sure, he could be needy at times and often craved attention, but not this kind of attention. He squirmed uncomfortably under their curious, untrusting gazes.

"Well...I remember my name, of course, and age. I remember some things about my family as well, but I don't know where I was born, or which country I am from." He lied. Remus frowned, but said nothing. Soon, the only sounds in the room were the sounds of bacon sizzling, the rain pattering against the window, and the occasional boom of thunder in the distance.

Mad-Eye looked over him carefully, his electric blue eye swiveling madly in place, as his gaze lingered on Ed's right arm and left leg before turning to look back at his face.

"Edward, may I talk to you for a moment," He asked gruffly as he stood up from the table. It sounded more like a command than a request, and it was a command which Ed had no choice but to obey.

"Uh, sure..." He said, standing up as well and following the scarred man upstairs. When they reached the top and Moody made sure nobody was looking, he turned back to Ed, a suspicious glint in his eye.

"Alright, boy," He said, his voice low, "You obviously have a metal arm and leg. Where'd you get them?" Ed froze for a moment, shocked at this. Then he relaxed and exhaled softly before turning back to Moody, a knowing look on his face.

"It's your eye, isn't it?" Ed asked wearily.

"It is." He replied. "I'll ask again. What are those metal prosthesis called?" Ed squared his shoulders, unconsciously massaging his right shoulder, trying to soothe the pain.

"It's called automail. I assume that they don't have it here?" Moody nodded. "Well, that explains it. I'd appreciate it if you kept it a secret. Even where I'm from, where automail is well-known, people acted either shocked or horrified. I don't think I want to find out how people who don't even know what automail is will react."

Moody eyed him for another minute, and then nodded once more. "I won't tell," He replied, and just as Ed sagged with relief he countered with another question, "But how'd you lose them?" Ed's face darkened greatly.

"Let's just say…" Ed paused to find the correct description of why he lost half of his limbs, but also for a way to not let Moody know about the illegal deed he had done.

"That I payed the price." He finished, and Moody grumbled.

"For what?" Ed paused again, the fire in his eyes burning brighter.

"I lost one of my limbs for making a mistake, and the other for fixing a mistake. That's all you need to know." He said coolly, turned away, and left it at that. Moody squinted after him as he walked away, and it was then that he finally noticed how uneven his footsteps sounded, with the left one sounding a bit heavier than the right. Moody trusted nobody this quick, but he felt like Ed could be trusted. He wondered if he was becoming soft.

Ed raised his eyebrows and looked up from the letter. "Hogwarts?" He finally said. Sirius nodded.

"Yep!" He said, proudly. "Definitely the best wizarding school out there!"

Ed tried to hide his disbelief. Despite seeing magic, he still had a hard time believing it. Where was the logic in it? It defied the law of physics. Besides, using a stick to transmute something without using any materials necessary? Ridiculous.

"Oh, well, we've better get to Diagon Alley, then!" Mrs. Weasley said.

"Diagon Alley?" Ed asked, frowning at the strange sounding name. Mrs. Weasley nodded.

"Yes, Diagon Alley. It's where we usually get the items necessary for the school year." She explained. Sirius looked depressed.

"I wish I could go..." He sighed. "I'll be left alone with Kreacher, and being cramped up in a house for months without any fresh air isn't fun, you know." Remus sighed.

"I know you must be itching to go out, Sirius," He said, "But we can't risk it. I'm sorry." Sirius pouted, and plopped down on the couch, grumbling something under his breath.

"Will we be using Floo powder?" Harry asked. Mrs. Weasley nodded.

"Yes. And, everyone, be sure to speak as loud and clearly as possible." Mrs. Weasley glanced at Harry, who shuffled uncomfortably and suddenly became very interested in his sneakers.

Ed frowned, "What's floo powder?" Mrs. Weasley smiled and picked a small flowerpot from next to the fireplace. Inside was some type of silvery, shimmering powder.

"Floo powder is a way for wizards to transport to certain places," She explained. "All you have to do is take a handful of powder, toss it into a fireplace, walk into the fire- which, by the way, is completely harmless- and state your desired destination, loud and clear. If you don't speak clearly you might end up in the last place you would want.

Hm...let's have Fred go first to demonstrate." She said, and one of the twins walked into the large fireplace.

He took a large handful of the floo powder then grinned cheekily at the others. "Diagon Alley!" He said loudly, and he threw the powder down at the ground. Emerald green flames appeared seemingly out of nowhere and climbed up his body, but he showed no signs of pain or alert. The flames, as if being fed, burned brighter and completely engulfed Fred. Ed watched, stunned.

Where the hell was the logic in this? How did this thing even work? Would it interfere with his automail? Where would he appear? What the fuck was Diagon Alley? What did it look like? Did it look like a small town in Amestris? Mrs. Weasley nudged him with her elbow. "Would you like to try it now?" She asked. Ed shrugged.

"Sure. Why not?" He said, stepping into the fireplace. Mrs. Weasley held out the flowerpot, and Ed grabbed a handful of floo powder. Ignoring his queasy stomach and sinking feeling, he threw the powder down.

"Diagon Alley!" He shouted as emerald colored flames obscured his view of the family and swallowed him up.

 **So, how was it? What do you think's gonna happen? Will Ed get lost? Or will he be where he's supposed to be? Also, what do you guys think of the story so far? Anything I need to improve on or fix? Please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

"You okay there, mate?" Fred asked as Ed leaned heavily on the fireplace, doubled over. He felt like he was going to lose his breakfast.

Ed heard the roar of the flames next to him, and assumed that someone else had just come through. He managed to prevent himself from puking everywhere and stood up straighter.

"Yeah, 'm fine." He grunted, looking around. He blinked tiredly at the strange...well, everything. He wondered if all of England country was like this. He exhaled, slowly, and waited for the rest of the family's arrival.

When they all eventually arrived they began to wander. "So," Ed began, "is everything in England like this? Like, does everyone have a stick-"

"-wand," Hermione corrected. Ed frowned, but continued anyway.

"Wand, I mean. And does everyone travel through their fireplace? What else is there, broomsticks that can fly?" He snorted.

"Actually, yeah," Harry said. "Travelling by broomstick is possible, but it's mainly used for Quidditch." A light seemed to go off in his eyes. Ed blinked tiredly.

"O-kay, then," He said. "Is that common in your country?" Molly thought for a moment.

"Well, it is for wizards and witches," She said. "Muggles- normal people without a drop of magic in them- don't know about floo powder, Quidditch, Hogwarts, or most of the other things us wizards use," She explained. Ed nodded slowly.

"I see," He said, then began to think deeply. Were there a lot of wizards in England? Were they world wide? Just how powerful were they? Were they superior to alchemists? Or inferior? Why don't muggles know about magic? Did wizards and witches isolate themselves from 'muggle' society? How did this magic work? Was there some trick to it, or did the user simply point their wand at the target and yell some hocus-pocus word? He frowned, so deep in thought that he wasn't looking where he was going and ended up bumping into someone.

Ed rarely apologized for bumping into someone on the streets, but he figured that being a jackass in an unknown world wouldn't make a good impression and could get him turned into something like a guinea pig. "Sorry," He mumbled absentmindedly. The person chuckled.

"It's quite all right, Mr. Elric," He said. Ed frowned, then looked up to find an old, yet healthy-looking, man standing in front of him. He had smile lines around his eyes and his kind, blue eyes seemed to shine. He heard Hermione and Ron gasp behind him.

"D-Dumbledore!" They said in unison. The man- Dumbledore- just smiled kindly at them.

"Hello, Harry. Hermione. Ronald," He said. Ed blinked.

"Who's this ge- guy?" He asked, managing to stop himself from saying 'geezer'.

"Dumbledore's the headmaster of Hogwarts," Hermione hissed. Ed had to think for a moment before remembering that Hogwarts was that wizard school he was going to attend.

"I see," Ed said. "I'm Edward." He introduced. Dumbledore's eyes sparkled just a little bit more.

"Ah, yes, you're the new student that Hogwarts is taking in." He said. Ed nodded slightly.

"Yeah," He said. "I don't know anything about magic, though." He admitted. Dumbledore let out a small chuckle.

"I can see that, with the way you're looking at everything like you've never seen it before," He said. He brought out a small pouch full of something and gave it to Edward.

"Here," He said, smiling, the lines around his eyes crinkling. "I've been told of your situation, and I assume you have no money. Buy yourself some books, or candy, even. Chocolate frogs and lemon drops are truly a delight." With that, he gave one last smile and disappeared into the crowd, leaving the shocked family and son of Hohenheim behind.

* * *

"Is he even human?" Ron whispered, peeking through the library doors, his mouth full of food. "He's been in there ever since we got here! Which was seven bloody hours ago!"

"I know," Harry whispered back. "He must be very...determined." He and Ron had gone up to the library to give Edward some dinner, since Molly didn't want to disturb him. Harry watched as the blonde, who was currently sitting at a table in the library with piles of books surrounding him, picked up his new wand, which was made of dragon string and ebony, and said something quietly while doing some hand motion. Harry assumed that it was the summoning charm, because once he said it, a small, silver-colored object came speeding towards him. Edward, who had gone back to intently reading the book, brought up his left hand and caught it. He set it back down on the table.

"What're you two doing?" Hermione said, suddenly appearing behind them, making both Ron and Harry jump. "Spying isn't very polite, you know." Ron shot her a look.

"Bloody hell, 'Mione!" He exclaimed. "Thanks for nearly givin' me a heart attack!" Hermione just rolled her eyes, then turned her attention to Edward, who was nearing the end of his grade 4 textbook, then to the piles of books on the table.

"So that's what he's been doing..." She mumbled, squinting. "He sure got by fast. And just give him his food already- he must be starving. Reading for hours can be tiring." Ron grinned at this.

"Yeah! And he just might be more of a book worm or smarter than you, too." He laughed. Hermione looked offended at this, but said nothing.

"Maybe so," She said shortly. "If he managed to get through all that, then I suppose there's a possibility." She said. She sighed softly.

"He's so...mysterious." She mumbled, gazing at him thoughtfully. Ron's head immediately snapped up to give her a look when he heard this, and Harry immediately knew that jealousy was beginning to overtake his friend. Ron liked Hermione for the longest time, and vice versa. It was a bit tiring being the third wheel and exasperatedly trying to get them to confess as much to each other.

"Yeah?" Ron snapped, "How so? In fact, how do we know that he's not a Death Eater?" Hermione rolled her eyes.

"That's exactly what I'm talking about, Ronald," She sighed, and Ron relaxed ever so slightly as she continued, "With those gloves and long sleeves he's always wearing, he could be hiding a Dark Mark. And his eyes...only Werewolves have those eyes. I'm not buying his story about having amnesia. All those dangerous situations he claimed to have been in..." She frowned, deep in thought.

"And the way he entered," A new voice chimed in. The trio looked behind them to find Ginny standing there, running her fingers through her red hair. "It was a symbol that I've ever seen before, and he's just so guarded, like he's expecting a surprise attack all the time. He's definitely hiding something."

"Yeah..." Hermione agreed distantly. The four gazed at the boy, who was warily studying that silver object he had summoned earlier. They wondered just what secrets the mysterious Edward Elric was hiding from them.


	6. Chapter 6

**Heyooo! Just wanted to say thank you all for reading/reviewing :) You guys are awesome! I'd also like to thank my beta for this story, DragonWriter357. You're amazing!Hopefully, I'll be a little more active with this story ^-^ Chapter might be a little short, sorry! School's been relentless with me :/ So...long dream scene. Tell me if I'm overdoing the dreams ._. I think I'm trying too hard to make it sad/angsty. Enjoy!**

 _"A-Alphonse?" Ed whispered, staring at the unhealthily skinny boy. He smiled sadly as the Gate behind him opened up, and tiny arms grabbed hold of him and started puling him backward. Ed's eyes widened at this- no way in hell he'd let him go like that. He ran forward. "Alphonse!" He yelled, his feet pounding against the floor. No matter how fast he ran, it seemed that the Gate was always farther away. Panic invaded his mind as the hands pulled Alphonse into the Gate, which slowly began to close._

 _"Give him back!" He roared, desperation seeping into his voice as he willed himself to run faster after the now-closed Gate. He was almost there- he was so close. Only about 10 feet away. But that's when he showed up. As if wanting to mock him, the white figure of Truth came out, the left leg and right arm flesh colored instead of a blank white, right in front of him. Edward barely managed to make out his usual shit-eating grin as he halted, feeling fear invade his body._

 _"My fault?" He taunted. "What are you talking about?_ _You're_ _the one that put him in that state, Alchemist." Edward eyes widened as he realized that he was right. It was his fault, wasn't it? Al didn't want to do it, but he convinced him otherwise, and now..._

 _He said nothing. He just stared, wide eyed and pale as another sickening voice that made Ed'd blood run cold and feel like he was going to vomit was heard._

 _"That's right," The voice of Shou Tucker said lazily. He turned around to find Tucker standing behind him, the Nina chimera sitting next to him, looking up at him sadly. "You and I are the same, Edward Elric." He grinned cruelly, and Ed felt his breath catch in his throat as he stumbled back._

 _"No..." He whispered. "I'm not...I didn't mean to..." He flinched violently, his vision beginning to get blurry by unwanted, unshed tears. He blinked them back, and swallowed the lump in his throat, his brea._

 _"Big...broth...er..." The chimera said. "Let's...play..." Ed let out a cry, and buried his face in his hands, the palms covering his grief-stricken eyes as he felt a small hand- no, several small hands- touch his face, leaving behind a small shock of electricity and a strange feeling. He paused, recognizing this feeling, then turned his head to find small black hands reaching towards him, stroking his face. But that wasn't what made his heart stop and the blood drain from his face. It was a hand- an all too familiar one, caressing his cheek._

 _"Edward..." It whispered in his mother's voice, broken, afraid, and grief-stricken. "Don't leave me like this..." With a yelp, he jumped back, only to bump into Tucker. He looked down at him, his eyes mad._

 _"We're the same..." He whispered, a crazy grin on his face. "We meddled with human life and caused misery..."_

 _"No...I didn't-"_

 _"Big...brother...why didn't you...save us?" The voice of Nina asked him. "You let us...die..." He felt the tears that he'd been holding in for so long stream down in face as he put his hand on his forehead._

 _"I'm sorry..." He whispered back._

 _"_ _You_ _put your brother in that suit of armor," Truth said. "_ _You're_ _the only one to blame!"_

 _He felt a rough, charred-feeling hand on his cheek and direct his head to the left, where he came face-to-face witrh the monster he and Al had created. "Please don't leave me," It choked. He could smell its rotten, sour breath and odor and heard its wheezing and occasional, painful sounding crackle whenever it breathed. He pushed it away, stumbling back as he did so, accusations echoing in his head. Ed put his hands over his ears, not wanting to hear what anyone had to say as tears dripped down his face and fell to the ground._

 _"Me and Alexander...just wanted to play..."_

 _"One day, you'll be just like me, Edward!"_

 _"It's you're fault, not mine, Alchemist!"_

 _"It hurts..."_

 _"You let us die..."_

 _"You're in every way like me!"_

 _"Make it stop...please, Edward..."_

 _The words started to become harsher, each one causing his already damaged heart to break even further._

 _"Why do you have to cause everyone misery?"_

 _"Big...brother...it should have been...you...not us..."_

 _"All you leave in your wake is misery, Alchemist."_

 _"You left me alone...you should have...died..."_

 _"If anyone knew what you did to Alphonse, both you and me would be sent to jail...you're an even worse monster than I am, Edward Elric."_

 _"Why...did you have to make us all so miserable, Nii-san? Do you enjoy making people hurt? You've hurt me the most pain, you know."_

Ed woke with a start, his breaths coming quickly as he looked around the dark room, sweat rolling down his face. He cast a glance at the sleeping form of Harry and Ron as he put a gloved hand to his forehead, wiping the sweat away. He squirmed uncomfortably. It was too hot, but that was to be expected, since he was nearly all covered up with clothes. He was paranoid about his automail arm being exposed, since he was sharing a room with two other boys, so he slept with a longsleeve black shirt and his gloves on, as well as long, baggy sweatpants. He wanted nothing more than to kick the bed sheets off, but then that'd expose his automail foot.

He swallowed thickly and forced himself to calm his ragged breathing and racing heart as he laid back down. But that still didn't clear the doubt from his mind- everything really was his fault, wasn't it? All he did was cause misery to everyone.

What Al had said in his nightmare came back to him. _"_ _Why...did you have to make us all so miserable, Nii-san_ _?"_

He flinched. If anyone knew anything about misery, it was Al. Ed should know. He did cause his pain after all. It was because of his stupid, naive, ignorance and arrogance mistake that caused his baby brother to lose his body. For so many years, he wasn't able to eat, sleep, or feel. It must have been terrible...

And then there was Nina. If only he had been there faster, if only he'd been smarter and knew what Tucker was going to do beforehand, then maybe, just _maybe_ -

But he hadn't. He was too slow, too dull to figure it out. Ed felt a lump rise in his throat as he took in everything that had been said in his nightmare and realized that it was true, and he draped his left arm over his eyes.

The fierce, brave Fullmetal Alchemist almost never cried. So anyone who knew Ed would be shocked to see the pearl-shaped tears roll down the side of his face. Even Hermione, who had opened the door to wake the others up for another trip to Diagon Alley to get Ed a pet, was shocked at this, and not wanting to disturb the crying alchemist, closed the door gently and quietly.

* * *

Ed stared at the old hat that Remus was holding. "Excuse me?" He said, scratching Carbon, his black Scottish fold cat, behind the ears. He wasn't sure he heard what Remus had said correctly.

"This is the Sorting Hat," He said. "It'll sort you into the houses. There are four. People in Slyherin- I do hope you're not sorted into that house- tend to be resourceful, cunning, sly, ambitious, and clever. People in Ravenclaw are typically intelligent, witty, wise, creative, and original. Hufflepuff kids are usually loyal, kind, dedicated, patient hard workers,"

At the word 'patient', Ed knew that he was unlikely to be 'sorted' into Hufflepuff. He had a very short temper, and an even shorter patience level, but he _was_ dedicated and hard working. He wouldn't call himself cunning or sly like people in Slytherin, but he _was_ resourceful and ambitious. As for Ravenclaw, that seemed, by far, the house that would suit him most. He was intelligent, learning alchemy at the age of 4 or 5, but he wouldn't call himself wise. Witty? Sure, sometimes if he felt like it. Creative? Check. Besides, being in a house full of _intelligent_ people wouldn't be so bad. Ed noted that only 3 houses were named, and he looked up at Lupin.

"What's the last house?" He asked. The corners of Lupin's lips tugged upward as he continued.

"Gryffindor. These people are brave, courteous, daring, honorable, and have a very strong strength of will, as well as nerve and boldness. Everyone here in this room is- or was- in the Gryffindor house." Ed nodded.

"I see," He said, then sighed. "Well, then, lets get this over with." He grumbled. Lupin walked over to him and set the hat on his head. Ed wondered how a hat- a _hat_ , for Truth's sake- would sort him into a house.

"Well, my boy, I am a _talking_ hat!" The hat suddenly cackled. Ed jumped in his chair.

"Holy shit!" He hissed, earning a disapproving look from Mrs. Weasley and a few amused looks from the family and Lupin. "See, I look into your mind and find out which house you would do best in!" Ed frowned. Look into his mind? Sure, sure, because that wasn't intruding _at all._

"Wow...learning a difficult, advanced art at the age of five...very impressive..." The hat said. Ed gripped the sides of the chair.

"Committing something that's forbidden, yet doing it anyway, not knowing about the results...very brave...ooh...I see lots of intelligence, ambition, and dedication...you'd make an excellent Ravenclaw...but there's so much bravery and loyalty...I see some Gryffindor and Hufflepuff traits here as well..."

 _Can you hurry it up already?_ Ed thought impatiently. He was itching to get this hat off his head. He wondered if it had a soul bound to the hat, like Alphonse. He felt a twinge of pity for the Sorting Hat.

"Hmph! Impatient are we? And no, Mr. Elric, nobody bound my soul to this hat. I was made like this, and I am content. You needn't to worry. I believe that Ravenclaw might suit you...but Gryffindor would also be very suiting..." Ed pursed his lips. Though the hat didn't say it, he knew that it was giving him a choice: Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. He'd have to choose between being sorted into a house full of actual intelligent people and not idiots that don't know what they're doing and be alone, or surround himself with courageous students people that he actually knew and was a little fond of and risk being stuck with brash, nosy idiots.

After about a minute of debating inside his head, he finally made his choice and the Sorting Hat, in a booming yell, sorted him into the house he favored.

* * *

Sirius pursed his lips. "Are you sure we can trust him?" He muttered darkly, gazing at the blonde, who was talking with the twins. "I mean, he fell from the ceiling...isn't that a bit fishy to you?" Molly rolled her eyes.

"He's a child, Sirius," She said. "And what would he even do?" He squinted at her.

"He can be a _spy_ for all we know!" He snapped. "Bloody hell, how do we even know that he's not a Death Eater, with those gloves he always wears?" It was Molly's turn to purse her lips.

"Of course it's a little suspicious," She began, cautiously. "But-"

"Molly, are you willing to risk the lives of your whole family for one child we don't even know? _Harry's_ life?" Sirius's face melted into one of worry as he gazed at the raven haired teenager. "I don't like this, not one bit..." Molly scowled at him.

"Well, if you would let me finish my sentence, Sirius, then maybe I'd explain my reasoning," She snapped, harshly, pausing to see if he would dare interrupt her. He kept his mouth shut. "As I was saying, Dumbledore said that he knew someone very similar to Edward, both by the way he came in, philosophy, and he even said that they looked similar." Sirius frowned, then crossed his arms.

"So?" He mumbled. "That doesn't mean that he's not a Death Eater." Molly shot him a cross look.

"Dumbledore checked his wrist and arms," She responded. "There's no Dark Mark. Besides, he said that we can trust him. Now, I know that Dumbledore is a wise man and hasn't been wrong so far, so I'm willing to bet that he's not going to do us any harm." Sirius frowned, but said nothing, the curiosity in his gut growing.

"I see," He said. "Did Dumbledore happen to say this man's name? The one that apparently reminded him of Ed?" He asked. Molly nodded.

"Yes," She said pausing, glancing at Edward. "He had a peculiar name. It was, I believe..." She screwed her face up in concentration before finally remembering the name Dumbledore had told her.

"Van Hohenheim."

 **ACCCKKK OHMYGOD GUYS IT'S OCTOBER 3RD! (well it was when I wrote this chapter, anyway. I spent most of the time afterward making edits and adding a bunch of stuff in.) This calls for a...celebration ? No idea. But nonetheless, I'm just gonna chill out here, reading some FMA fanfics and bingewatch the actually show haha. What did you guys do for Oct. 3rd?**

 **Reviews are greatly appreciated, critics welcome XP**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey guys! Sorry for not updating in a while, I was kinda busy with school (by busy I mean doing tons of school projects alone because my partners are idiots) I apologize if anyone seems out of character and/or if something in this chapter seems highly unlikely to happen. Thank you to all who have reviewed and most of all, thank you to my beta, DragonWriter357! Without you, this story would have probably been craptastic.**

Unlike most of the Fullmetal Alchemist's experiences on trains, is time he was actually comfortable. However, like nearly all of his train experiences, he was tense. Ready to fight if needed. He'd gotten used to it over time- having to be ready for nearly everything. After all, who knew what could happen? Some lunatic could barge in with his stick and threaten to take over the train. They could get in an accident. Maybe Father had somehow survived and had come into this world. Hell, he could be coming for Ed right this second and try to hijack the train.

Edward had to be prepared. Ready to protect these people that he had become so fond of (the word _friend_ didn't seem quite right as of now, but they were somewhere in that area) from that God-like wannabe.

Of course, this was the irrational part of Ed's mind. The part that could never be at ease- not truly, anyway. There was always some absurd ' _what if_ ' lurking around in his head. But the sensible part of him knew that Father was dead. Truly dead.

It was more of a gut feeling, really, but he'd learned to trust his instincts over the years. As for the rest of the nonsense scenarios he made up in his head, he knew that there was an extremely small chance of any of that ever happening. He'd been assured, over and over again by the trio, that Hogwarts was safe.

"...Sorting Hat give you a choice?" Harry asked. He raised his eyebrows at the blonde boy, who had a thoughtful, contemplative look on his face as he gazed out at the scenery from the train window. "Ed?" He said. Edward blinked, then looked back at him.

"Hm?" He asked. "Sorry, I was just...thinking." He mumbled. Hermione nodded understandingly. "What were you saying?" He asked.

"Did the Sorting Hat give you a choice?" Harry repeated. Ed nodded.

"Mhm." He said. "It- he- she - whatever it is - let me pick, although it said that I'd do real well in Ravenclaw." Hermione nodded.

"Oh, Ravenclaw?" She said. "The Sorting Hat must have seen a great amount of intelligence, then. Bright, witty people are usually in Ravenclaw." Ron gave a small grunt as he crumpled a candy wrapper in his hand.

"I'm shocked that you're not in Ravenclaw, 'Mione." Ron mumbled. Hermione huffed.

"I was supposed to be in Ravenclaw," She said. "But, like Ed, I chose Gryffindor instead." Harry's eyes widened at this new information. Hermione had, like him, requested to be in Gryffindor? Sure, he knew Hermione was very intelligent, and he'd had his suspicions about Hermione originally being meant for Gryffindor, but now that it was confirmed it felt so...strange.

"Holy shit!" Ed muttered, not too quietly, earning a "Language!" from Hermione. He was examining a card that Ron gave him. It had a picture of some old geezer (he looked vaguely familiar. The name at the bottom of the card read ' _Dumbledore_ '.) He watched in childlike curiosity and fascination as he waved and walked out of sight. "What is this?" He flipped the card over, then examined the rest of it. Ron raised an eyebrow.

"Well, you can't expect him to just sit there all day, like in muggle photos!" He said. "In pictures from the wizarding world, the people can move." Ed frowned, not really satisfied with this explanation. There must be some kind of method- some kind of science involved. Although he was proved to that magic was, in fact, real, he still refused to believe that it was actually...magic. All his life, everything had a scientific explanation. From the birth of a new life, to the bodily functions, and even to the way most of their inventions worked.

"Well, how does it work?" He asked, looking at Hermione. She seemed like the brightest of the three, after all. "I mean there has to be a scientific explanation. Perhaps-"

"Magic." Ron replied, cutting the blonde off. Ed frowned. Again, he wasn't the biggest fan of this magic. Still a little skeptical, too, despite all that he'd witnessed.

"Well, I know that, but there has to be something else behind it, right?" He murmured. "After all, magic disrupts the law of Equivalent Exchange, so surely-" He was more like mumbling to himself now, so quiet that not Hermione nor the other pair could really hear him. Harry wasn't sure, but he could've sworn he heard Ed slip into another language.

After about a half an hour of talking and trying to convince that magic was just...magic. No 'Equivalent Exchange' was involved in it. Harry was sure he'd never heard that phrase before, but he decided that it most likely, judging from its' name, meant that if you want something, then you have to give something else up that was equivalent to the thing you wanted.

Hermione frowned. "Equivalent Exchange?" She said, and Ed nodded.

"Yeah," He said, a grim hint in his voice. "Where I'm from, it applies to certain military men, and even a small portion of the common people. Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain something, something of equal value must be lost." He'd experienced this firsthand. His arm for his brother's soul. His house for him to be able to keep moving forward. His happiness and normality for a chance to bring back the dead. Hermione eyed him suspiciously.

"Where you're from, huh?" She mumbled. It was in that moment that Ed realized his mistake, and silently cursed himself for his stupidity. He was supposed to not have memory of where he's from. He was screwed.

"It's kinda stuffy in here," He said, praying that the subject change would make the trio forget his fatal mistake. He reached over and opened the window little under halfway, and the compartment slowly but surely became cooler. "I heard that we had to wear robes. Is that true?" He asked. The wind whipped Ed's bangs around, which didn't really seem to bother him, as long as they forgot what they were discussing earlier. Unfortunately, Hermione wasn't fazed by the distraction.

"I thought that you didn't remember-" The compartment door slid open, saving Ed from a long explanation. He silently exhaled, more than a little relieved. He looked at the compartment door to see who'd saved him.

A rather smug, haughty looking boy around Ed's age with sleek, white blonde hair and cool grey eyes was at the door. He was accompanied by two big boys that towered over Ed.

Small, beady, dull dark eyes, with brown hair. Short, chubby, with a flat nose, thick neck, and dark brown eyes. The blonde was in the front, the chubby one to his left, and the big one on the right. Harry, Hermione, and Ron gave seething glares to the mystery trio.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" Harry spat maliciously. The blonde one (Malfoy, apparently) smirked.

"I heard there was a new kid entering the 5th year," He said, his gaze switching from Harry to Ed. He examined him carefully, as if deciding whether or not he was worthy enough to acknowledge. Ed looked at him back, a bit of a glare in his gaze.

"So, you're the new one?" He said. Ed nodded curtly, lips pursed. Already, he could tell he was gonna hate this guy. People like him- people who think that they're so superior to others- got on Ed's nerves.

"I see. Say, when we get to Hogwarts, after the feast-" The word 'feast' had gotten the blonde spitfire's attention "-why don't me, Crabbe, and Goyle, show you around? We could even becomes friends if you're sorted into Slytherin-"

"No." Ed interrupted, irritably, earning shocked looks from Malfoy and the trio.

"Excuse me?" Malfoy said after a stunned silence. Ed rolled his eyes.

"What, are you hard of hearing?" He snipped. "I declined your dumbass offer. Besides, I've been sorted into Gryffindor." Malfoy's nostrils flared.

"How dare you!" He seethed. "When my father-"

"Listen, Blondie," He said, "I couldn't care less about your family, alright? I'm not afraid of your father, whoever the hell he may be, and I would never sink so low as to form a friendship with some snotty, spoiled, arrogant brat like you. I think I'll stay with the people who aren't like you at all. So screw off." He didn't know why, but he felt so irritated all of the sudden, making him snappish. After all, he couldn't afford to dawdle around with Blondie here and his two goons. He had a mission, and that was to get back. Truth did say it was possible, after all, and he'd heard from Hermione that Hogwarts had a huge library, which he would use to his advantage.

The big one huffed. "We don't want a filthy Gryffindor, anyways," He sneered.

"Yeah, Goyle's right," the other said (His name must've been Crabbe), lamely. Hermione glared up at Draco.

"There. You've got your answer from Ed. Leave. Now." Malfoy smirked.

"How cute- a filthy mudblood thinks she can tell me what to do..." Ron growled and shot up, his hand gripping his wand. His eyes screamed murder.

"What'd you say about her, you bloody snob?" The redhead snarled, much to nobody's surprise. It was obvious to everyone- except for Hermione, of course- that Ron fancied her. Ed watched the scene before him. Malfoy turned towards him.

"What're you staring at," He sneered, a superior gleam in his eye. The tone he used towards Ed made it sound like he was speaking to a lowly peasant. "Shorty?"

Ed twitched. It wouldn't be so bad to throw this guy out of the train right? He swallowed his rage, along with a lengthy rant he wanted to scream out (which was very hard for the golden-eyed blonde) and stood up, cracking his knuckles. He grabbed Malfoy's collar and pulled him close, despite his panicked cry of, "G-Get off of me!"

"Listen closely, you little shit," He said in a low, threatening voice. Malfoy's grey eyes went wide in fear, and his two goons drew their wands, but Ed didn't pay attention."Being an asshole doesn't make you look cool, it just makes you look like a dick. You may think that you're all high and mighty, but you're not, so quit acting like a king. We told you to leave once already, and frankly, I don't think you want me to tell you to leave once more. Is that clear?" The grey-eyed boy nodded frantically. "Good. Don't make me. Now get outta here." He roughly shoved Malfoy away, who fell and scrambled out of the compartment door. It's not really the outburst I usually have, he thought, but it'll do. After all, seeing the pure terror in Malfoy's eyes felt much more effective than his other method.

Crabbe looked slightly outraged. He was glaring at Ed like he'd just taken his favorite toy away, and Ed glared right back. Suddenly, quicker than Ed thought he could move, he drew his wand.

"Furnunculus!" He cried. A bright ball of light shot out of the wand. The trio gasped. Ed recognized it as a 4th year spell that would cover the victim in boils. _Son of a bitch_ , he thought.

"Ed!" Hermione cried as she stood up. She drew her wand.

The compartment was rather small and narrow, so the only thing he could do was duck. Just in time, too. Had he been 2 seconds later, the spell would've hit him in the face. He turned around, wondering if the curse would rebound if it hit a wall. Turns out that didn't matter, because he was standing right in front of the window and the spell simply soared out of the compartment. Ron and Harry stood up, their wands drawn and pointed at the two.

"Bloody hell," Ron grumbled. "You haven't even set foot into the school and you're already in a fight..." Ed glanced back at them, then rolled his shoulders.

"It's fine, guys," He said before shooting them a rather cocky grin. "I can handle it. I don't want you getting in trouble."

"So you're going to go against two people with wands?" Harry said skeptically. "That doesn't sound promising." Ed grinned evilly.

"Surprising people seems to be my talent." He mused. "I'll be fine." Harry didn't really believe it but reluctantly sat down. He kept his wand out just in case things got out of hand. Ed turned his gaze back to the two. He was surprised that they didn't attack when he was talking to the trio.

"So," He said. "You two seem like idiots. But I don't think you're idiotic enough to actually go against me and expect to win. But I suppose it's because you don't know me, and I don't think you really want to experience your loss. I suggest you leave before things get rough." Crabbe smirked and looked at Goyle, who smirked in return and raised his wand. Ed shrugged. "Alright, don't say I didn't warn ya." He sighed.

He leaped towards Goyle and punched him in the nose. With his automail fist. Goyle looked mildly shocked as he put his hands up to cover his bleeding nose.

"Listen, guys," He sighed. "Before it gets any uglier than it already is, you'd better leave. Last chance." Ed waited for a moment before turning around to face Crabbe, whose wand was raised. "Lo-"

The blonde turned around swiftly, dropped to the floor in a crouch, extended his left leg, and kicked Crabbe's feat our from under him, resulting in the fat 5th year falling to the floor with a surprised cry. Ed got up quickly, grabbing Crabbe's wand as he did so, and kicked Goyle, who was, yet again, about to cast another spell on him, in the chest, sending him flying to the hallway wall. There was a grunt behind him, and he turned around to find a meaty fist flying his way. He ducked and punched Crabbe in the stomach (he was afraid that his automail fist might do a little too much damage, so he did it with his left hand instead) then grabbed his arm and flipped him over his shoulder.

The compartment was mostly quiet, with the exception of the pained groans of Goyle and Crabbe. The fight had taken them half inside and half out of the compressed room. Ed looked down at the wand he held in his hand, contemplating whether or not he should throw it out the window, but finally decided against it. He didn't want to get charged for a new wand, after all.

He let out a small huff as he put the wand in Crabbe's pocket and hoisted him up, despite his pained moan. "Damn, what'd this guy eat?" He mumbled as he practically threw him out of the compartment. He moved on to Goyle.

"Ow..." He groaned. Ed snorted softly.

"Oh, be quiet and suck it up, Donkey Kong." He shoved him out of the compartment, not really caring if they were just going to lay out in the middle of the hall. He closed the compartment door and dusted off his shoulders, then sat back down. He grinned devilishly.

"So, tell me about this feast..."


	8. Chapter 8

Edward dropped his fork. It was the first time he had stopped eating or looked up from his food for a full ten seconds. The blonde did have a large appetite and traveling to another dimension didn't do anything to stop it. In fact, doing so just fueled his hunger even more. He swallowed before talking. "We're wearing these damn things for the whole year?!" He hissed, horror and disgust evident on his face. Harry nodded.

"Yes. Except for the weekends." Ed winced. Walking around in a dress all school year was completely...stupid. And yet nobody seemed to object to it. _At least the robes are black so the grease from my automail won't show..._ he thought somewhat dejectedly. He eyed the teacher's table, specifically the fat woman wearing a fuzzy, pink cardigan. She stuck out like a sore thumb at the table, most likely because of her bright and bold clothes.

"What 'bout her?" He asked, mouth full. He pointed to the teacher- what was her name again? Umbrage? Umbide? Ron's eyes drifted toward her and his nose wrinkled immediately.

"I sure hope she won't be wearin' that bloody abomination around," He grumbled. "But I s'pose she's _allowed_ to wear it." Ed snorted as he shoveled more beef roast into his mouth.

"Really? I thought it'd be against the law to wear something as hideous as that."

Hermione didn't look like she approved of the boys' gossip about the new teacher's choice in clothing.

"She's our teacher," She scolded, "and even though she gave a rather horrendous speech, you could be punished for saying those things!" Ed rolled his eyes. Hermione, though she was definitely the smartest one in the trio, was too much of a goody-two-shoes. Of course there was nothing wrong with that, but Ed was never one to follow rules. In fact, he was more used to breaking them.

"Enjoying the feast, Harry?" A new voice suddenly said. Ed looked up and nearly choked on his food at the sight. There, floating next to Harry, was a transparent figure of a man, his head barely being held together by a small piece of flesh on his neck. The person seemed to notice Ed for the first time.

"Oh?" He said. "Is this a new first year?" Ed was too shocked to be offended.

"What the hell?" He said. "Your head- how is that possible? Perhaps its an illusion..." The man looked slightly offended at the accusation. Ron scoffed.

"Ha?" Ron said. "It's just Nearly Headless Nick. He's the Gryffindor House spirit." Ed scoffed.

"A spirit?" He echoed, rolling his eyes. "That's-"

"-Impossible?" The ghost- Nearly Headless Nick- interrupted. "My boy, you're sitting in a school for those who have magical blood pumping through their veins. I do believe that at this point, encountering a ghost shouldn't be too shocking." Ed blinked, staring at Nearly Headless Nick. _A ghost..._ he thought. _He has no physical body...could it be that maybe his form is just a piece of his original consciousness or...his soul?_ The thought sent a small jolt through Ed.

If a human soul was tethered to this Earth, then could he have done that back in Amestris? Did someone bind his soul there, or did he just die? Could Ed have made it better for Al? He immediately crossed that thought out. Nearly Headless Nick had no physical form, which meant that he couldn't pick up or touch items. If he had used that tactic with Al, his appearance would've stayed the same, but he wouldn't be able to really do anything. Still, Ed was interested. Did he have a blood seal somewhere in Hogwarts? Could he possess certain objects?

"So what exactly are you, then?" Ed asked, setting his fork down to gaze at the spirit. "Are you merely a part of the consciousness from when you were alive? A different, fake version of your old self created by magic? Or...are you just your soul without a physical body?" Harry gave Ed a strange look. The look in his golden eyes had darkened at the last part somewhat remorsefully.

Harry was slightly surprised when Sir Nicholas didn't disappear after Ed's questions. His former life as a living person has always seemed to be a sensitive topic. Nick crossed his arms instead. "A ghost is the imprint of a departed soul, yes." He answered. "Afraid of death, they can choose to stay on this Earth. However, it is a path most wizards and witches do not take." Ed raised his eyebrows.

"Really?" He said. "That's a shock. There are people in the world who'd do anything not to die even if it meant taking innocent lives." Ron blinked.

"I don't think there are spirits that desperate to stay 'alive." Hermione interjected. "Once you're a ghost, you're stuck here on Earth. You can't move on, and you'll be forced to roam the places where you once wandered forever." Ed blinked.

"I see..." He said, slowly. "These ghosts...are they only witches and wizards? Can they also be regular humans, too?" The thought was absurd, but did that mean that there was a chance of his mother being a ghost, or at least getting the option? He couldn't fathom why she'd stay behind and not reveal herself to them- perhaps she was disgusted and disappointed in Ed because of the failed transmutation that cost his little brother's body. He couldn't say he'd blame her.

"Muggles?" Ron said. Ed unconsciously sent him a small glare at the word. Something about it seemed disrespectful. It seemed like the wizards believed that they were superiors to those born without magic, like the Homounculi's attitude toward the humans. In the end, it didn't really matter since they were beaten by the "puny insects" called humans. "Nah. Only wizards and and witches can be ghosts." Ron answered with his mouth full of chicken. Hermione scoffed and swatted his arm.

"Don't talk with your mouth full, Ronald!" She scolded. "It's absolutely revolting!" Ron rolled his eyes and replied with a snarky retort and the two began to bicker, as usual.

Ed felt a surge of relief flood through him. His mother had no chance of being a ghost. Which meant that she didn't have to see Ed's hubris and arrogance tear him down to the lowest he's ever been. He pushed his bowl away from him, the strong desire to eat the delicious food in front of him now gone.

Harry glanced over at the blonde. He'd obviously lost his appetite, which seemed to be like a black hole- seemingly insatiable and impossibly large. He was a bit worried for him, if not a little suspicious. A flash of overwhelming relief and sadness had flashed in his eyes when Hermione told him that muggles weren't able to become ghosts.

He said that he had no memory other than bits and pieces. Could it be that someone important in his life died? But why wouldn't he want them to be a ghost?

There was definitely something off about that Edward Elric. And Harry was going to find out exactly what it was.

 **HOLY SHIT WHAT'S THIS- IT'S AN UPDATE! DAMN I WAS GONE FOR SO LONG I AM SO SORRY YOU GUYS ! SO UHM HOW'S LIFE? I hope I didn't bore you to death with this chapter, I've been getting a bit of writer's block for this lately. Not to worry, Ed's gonna start his classes next chappie . Hehehehe . Anyways so again, so sorry for going off like that . Thank you all who have made it this far, I really appreciate it!**


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